59 



which once belonged to a famous Ribblesdale angler old Harry 

 Wallis. He gave it to me when he was himself being played by 

 the busy angler Death. I don't use it, because it dries up the 

 fish so in fine weather. And I have a wooden one (which was 

 also his he gave me all he had, except his skill), painted green 

 outside and white within ; it is still coated thickly with the scales 

 of salmon smolts, which Wallis long since dead and turned to 

 clay caught five-and-thirty years ago. And I have a macintosh 

 bag which, for diffusing a delightful aroma a combination of 

 bisulphide of carbon, dead cats, and stale mushrooms I will back 

 against any instrument of olfactory torture ever invented. It is 

 warranted to clear a room of objectionable anglers in less time 

 than a steam fire-engine in full employment. That is the reason 

 why I sometimes find locks, bolts, and bars all applied against me 

 when I am seen approaching in company with the macintosh. 

 And, for my own personal fancy, I would not give half-a-crown 

 a dozen for the wicker baskets." 



Mr. Pritt ' plumps ' for the Carlisle wooden creel ; and it must 

 be confessed that, even if it possessed no other merits, the notion 

 of using one's creel for a camp stool when lunching or smoking 

 is decidedly fascinating to the natural man. 



For my own part, however, and despite Mr. Pritt's unkind 

 remarks on its odoriferousness, I confess to a preference on the 

 double ground of lightness and portability for a fishing bag 

 waterproof of course rather than a fishing basket or box, no matter 

 how complete and perfect they may be in their construction. Many 

 ingenious forms of fishing bag have been invented during the last 

 ten years, some like that figured, made by Messrs. Cording of 

 125, Regent Street expanding at the sides, to admit of the 

 carrying, on an emergency, of extra large fish; others non-expand- 

 ing but partially open at the corners, and others again merely 

 " Sacs" covered by an over-hanging flap, and for each variety 

 some special advantage is claimed. 



